Part 1. From the Lykens Standard, 25 April 1902:
RECOLLECTIONS OF 40 YEARS
Regarding the Lykens Valley Coal Mines and Vicinity Adjacent
BY RICHARD NOLEN, ESQ.
Which first appeared in 1865 in the Upper Dauphin Register and Lykens Valley Miner, published by Samuel B. Coles and G. Washington Fenn.
I asked what Irishman? He said “I cannot tell his name;” but finally said to me, “If a man owed you would you not take his watch for the debt if he offered it to you?” I told him I thought I would, and asked, “did you get the watch for a debt?” He said, but long before he (Henrich) was at my house.” Mr. Updegrave then said “that cannot be, for I saw him have the watch when he left home.” I asked him if he still had the watch in his house. He replied that he had, and we proceeded to the house together. He went into a small room and got the watch, brought it out saying as he handed it to me, “the chain belongs to me.” I took the watch and handed him back the chain, then took out the warrant and to him I would be compelled to arrest him. He went into a small back room and put on other clothes, then proceeded with me to ‘Squire Ferree’s and after an examination I took him to Mr. Charles Miller’s Hotel (now the Union House in Lykens) and locked him up in a room in the care of D. C. Hoffman. The jury again visited the mountain where body of Henrich lay, and examined it, discovering two holes where the vest and pantaloons met. After further examination, one of the jurymen handed me a large gravel stone which had been found in the kidney. The jury retired to Williams’ house, where a gun was found to fit. We then went back to Miller’s Hotel, went into a back room and agreed on a verdict. I asked Williams, “guilty or not guilty?” to which he made no reply, but told me that I had not asked him the right questions the night before, and continued “that he had not seen the watch, but Henrich had thrown it into his wife’s lap.” Some time after this, a rumor was afloat that Williams had a ring belonging to Henrich. I went to Williams wife and stated the rumor, asking if it was correct. She replied she had no ring but had three pieces of coin which Williams had given her. She handed them to me, I took them to the Court and they were proved to have been Henrich’s pocket pieces.
I took Williams to the Harrisburg Prison on the 27th day May, 1857, and the grand jury found a true bill against William Williams, for the murder of Daniel Henrich, on the 27th day of August, 1857. The case was laid over on the application of his attorneys, who stated they had an important witness whose presence was then impossible. On Wednesday morning, the 18th of November, Williams’ case came up before the Court; he was brought in accompanied by his poor, blind father, who remained throughout the trial. After the plea of “not guilty” was entered, the jury was empaneled and sworn, as follows: M. Ritner, of Harrisburg, foreman; Joseph Bowman, Halifax; Daniel Sheesley, Swatara; James W. Griffith, Dauphin Borough; Joseph Lewis, William Bush, Henry Hanshaw, Harrisburg; Henry Kemmerer, Harrisburg; J. M. Lutz, Harrisburg; Abraham Freaner, Harrisburg; George Matchett, Halifax; George Christ, Middletown. After occupying almost two days hearing the testimony, the District Attorney summed up for the Commonwealth, and William T. Bishop and H. Clay Alleman made masterly speeches for the defendant; the judge charged the jury at about 5 o’clock p.m. on the 19th day of November. The jury retired and remained out about five hours, coming into the court room at about 10 o’clock p.m., same day, when the court house bell was rung and a great rush was made for the court room. Amidst the densely crowded room and the breathless attention of all the auditors, the jury rendered their verdict od guilty of murder in the first degree.” The attorneys for the defendant immediately filed exceptions against several points and asked for a new trial. The court met on the 18th of December for the purpose of arguing on the application, but his Honor, Judge Pearson, declined to grant a new trial. In the meantime, the pebble was sent to Philadelphia to be analyzed by Dr. Robert Bridges, as Williams’ attorneys wanted to make it appear that the pebble might have grown in the kidney, but Dr. Bridges pronounced it to be a common mountain pebble. I may state in this connection that I had picked up several of the same kind of pebbles on the mountain near where the body was found and sent them along to Philadelphia with the one that was found in the body.
The court declining to grant a new trial, defendant’s attorney’s carried the case to the Supreme Court, sitting at Philadelphia, May 10, 1858. The first objection they made against the District Court was that it permitted the Commonwealth to prove by me the testimony given by Williams under oath before the Coroner’s Inquest, of which I was foreman, but the Supreme Court concurred with the Hon. Judge Pearson in all the objected points.
After the judge had pronounced the sentence of death, he was conveyed back to the prison by Sheriff Eyster. The sentence of death was to be executed on the 21st day of May 1858, and the warrant was shortly afterwards signed by the Governor and issued to the Sheriff. Upon the arrival of the designated time the sentence of the law was put in execution – the perpetrator of this infamous murder was made to expiate his crime on the gallows. Truly the way of the transgressor is hard!
After Williams saw that there was no hope of escape from the gallows, he made a confession, of which I will cite but a few sentences:
[Continued in part 6].
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From Newspapers.com.
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